Fishers, Indiana – Precious time is lost between a call to 911 and for help and rescue teams to arrive. To fill in this gap and offer emergency aid as early as possible, a new 8-hour certification course, First Five First Aid has been launched by UDTWFA, LLC, beginning January 2018 at Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, Illinois.

The typical response time for emergency medical services to arrive after placing a 911 call is seventeen minutes. Studies however show that the first five minutes post a traumatic injury are critical as many victims die during this period. The First Five First Aid course is intended to teach people with no prior medical experience important medical methods such as how to stop traumatic bleeding, treat shortness of breath, and emergencies involving cardiac, brain, allergy, burns and shock using only basic first aid tools that might be available.

“First Five First Aid is one of the few courses that are being taught that focus on treating the life threats that kill 35% of victims of traumatic injury in less than five minutes,” says Jeffrey S. Imel, course founder and President of UDTWFA.

While other emergency courses revolve around only CPR, AED and basic first aid and do not address the challenge of shortage of time, First Five First Aid offers a wider range of emergency skills. Among other things, attendees will learn how to use items in their first aid kits and items found in their immediate environment to stop uncontrolled bleeding, start breathing and treat chest wounds, gunshot wounds, amputations, hypothermia and shock.

The new emergency training course is based on real-world experiences of people who have faced emergency situations such as shootings, bombings, workplace accidents or natural disasters. Attendees will thus learn to rely on their skills, respond and save lives even before the first responders arrive.

First Five First Aid comes with a two-year, internationally recognized certification for those who complete the course successfully. Training at the course is based on learning by doing, forming muscle memory and utilizing the Patient Assistance System. With a blend of classroom and experiential learning, 50 percent of the time will be devoted to learning as a mock rescuer and mock patient in high fidelity, care giving scenarios.

“Many people are under the impression there is little that they could do if they found themselves in a critical situation such as a natural or urban disaster. This course will teach students what they can do in those first five minutes to stay safe and help others in need of medical attention, using available resources around them until help can arrive,” says Jeffrey S. Imel.